Tag: adaptive formwork

I decided to make a paper model to cast in sand using the adaptive formwork technique. I chose to use the digital site information from my studio project and make it in scale 1:500. The final model would then be approximately 70*50 cm. I used a type of 300 gram paper​ to cut each height level and the same type of paper for the 2mm height difference for every curve. The model was then assembled using tape.

For casting with every level in the correct height I cut out several mirrored sections from the site to support the paper model from the bottom of the bounding box. The thought was that I would use these sections to level the sand underneath the model to get everything in the right height. This didn’t turn out well because the sand didn’t hold to this grid of sections.

I therefore shaped the sand through pushing and shaking the sand underneath the paper model, this method was not precise, but it seemed to hold the shape of the model well enough. I used a very coarse aggregate to fill the model, to make sure that the concrete slurry would filter all the way to the bottom. The size of the aggregate was roughly 10mm. For the slurry I used 0,75 part of water for 1 part of cement, in total 7 kg of cement.

I think that the paper was to thin for the size of the model. It was to difficult to shape an area of 50*70 cm of sand underneath a model. The edges of the model was to thin, so it bended, also because the aggregate was so large that it didn’t shape the model from the inside. For the recipe for the slurry I think that I could have used less water since the aggregate was larger than in the previous assignment.

For this assigment i tried to do two diffferent samples, the first one basically is a cilinder with halls inside generated by sticks made out of paper. The second sample should be a long piramind. For both i used the same strategy, a big cilinder of paper for keep the thinner sand and inside that the sample.

Why did I fail?

Considering the result i think that for the first sample the problem was the type of sand that I used inside the shape, probably still to much thin, so that the concrete was not able to penetrate through it

In the second sample even if i used thicker sand, i think i failed becouse of the paper, that was too light and thin and breaks almost immediately.

OBSERVATION:

For both the experiments i decided to add 60 g of water, because I thought that the mixture was still to much dense.

We took a triangle as a unit to build the formwork looking forward to creating a casting with screw texture.

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We followed the given steps and default data to mix the concrete but it was too dry to drain through the coarse aggregate. We were wondering if the sand was big enough to let concrete drain through. So we decided to leave it right here and we will continue it after we find the way through the coming seminar course.